The late afternoon sun cast long, skeletal shadows through the dense western woods. Leaves crunched heavily under Thomas's boots. He stood at the front of the modified diamond formation they had come up with for traveling in the forest through trial and error over the past few days.
Three starved goblins suddenly burst from the thick underbrush simultaneously. A few days ago, this sudden ambush would have triggered a bit of panic and random premature attacks from the rest of the group. Today, the party moved with much greater efficiency, ignoring their initial reactions and sticking to their roles.
The lead goblin launched itself through the air, raising a rusted, jagged hatchet. Thomas stepped firmly into the creature's path and raised his left arm. The hatchet struck his enchanted, hardened leather gauntlet with a solid thud.
He absorbed the kinetic impact effortlessly thanks to the force-dampening effect Jacob included in the enchantment. He immediately pivoted his hips, opening a clear lane for attack.
Oren swiftly stepped right into that newly created space.
The swordsman's blade flashed in the fading sunlight, delivering a lethal thrust that dropped the creature immediately without letting it retaliate further.
On the right flank, the second goblin tried to circle toward the back line. Jacob raised his hand, channeling a focused burst of air. After the goblin stumbled, a dark blur dropped silently from a thick oak branch above.
Mira landed directly behind the monster, which was currently scrambling to regain its balance. A flash of her enchanted steel daggers severed the goblin's spine before it could even shriek.
Blood sprayed in a gruesome fashion as the dying goblin's heart pumped out the last of its ichor in futility, but Mira was already back up the tree before a single drop of blood could taint her cloak.
The third goblin froze. Its crude monster instincts finally recognized the danger it was in. So, it turned to flee back into the thorny brush, dropping its weapon in panic.
"Bran," Jacob called out calmly, maintaining his defensive position near Sera in case more monsters appeared.
It had happened the day prior, and Sera was nearly attacked directly because they had relaxed too much as the goblins had fled in panic, similarly to this day.
Mira, though, always had an eye out during battle and managed to swiftly dispatch the ambushing goblins. Since then, Jacob decided he would be a bit more careful.
The stocky tinkerer stepped out from behind the healer. He hurled a heavy, fist-sized river stone with brutal accuracy developed through the precision required for tinkering. The rock struck the fleeing goblin in the back of the head, dropping it into the dirt.
Before it could recover from the impact to its head, Bran was upon it to deliver the killing blow. A swift flash of steel and a hollow thud, like a pumpkin being dropped on solid ground, and the goblin was finished with a spray of skull and brain matter across the forest floor.
Silence returned to the clearing, broken only by the distant calls of evening birds and the croaking of distant frogs near a pond.
Sera hummed a relaxing melody, helping the team recover their stamina. She hadn't needed to cast a single healing spell during the exchange, but her skillset was quite versatile, and her mana reserves were still untapped, so she decided to make sure everyone was ready for the next battle.
Thomas knelt in the dirt, quickly extracting the small, cloudy monster cores from the fallen creatures. He tossed them into his leather pouch, the familiar clinking sound echoing softly. He wiped a smear of dark blood from his knuckles and looked back at the group.
"That round felt entirely different," Thomas noted. His voice lacked any of the strained exhaustion from their earlier training days, where he would have to overcompensate for his and the group's mistakes. "Nobody broke rank or overextended. And Jacob managed to hold back enough that he didn't even blast Oren off his feet this time."
Jacob blushed a little at the mention of his blunder from a couple of days ago, but no one chuckled; Thomas only smirked a little. They were more focused on how smooth their teamwork felt that round.
Oren wiped his steel blade carefully with a clean rag before returning it to his scabbard. He looked satisfied with the team's performance. "Our spacing was nearly perfect. The frontline absorbed the initial shock, and the flanks completely collapsed their escape routes. And, I can tell that none of you wasted your stamina in the clash."
Jacob looked through the tree line toward the distant, thatched roofs of Ruvka. They were situated on a bit of a hill compared to the town, which allowed them to just barely make out the shape of the houses in the distance.
Plumes of grey smoke rose from the chimneys, signaling the approaching dinner hour. However, a different kind of tension hung over the village today, thanks to the messenger who arrived earlier in the morning.
Tomorrow morning, the baron's men would arrive to begin the baronial inspection. Arthur and the other farmers had spent the entire day frantically finalizing their ledgers and polishing their equipment.
While the focus of the inspection was intended for the Hemlock farm, and the royal injunction would only occur on their farm with the count's men in attendance as well, the Baron wouldn't waste the time needed to send out his inspectors.
The entire village would be distracted by politics and taxes by sunrise.
"We've hunted these woods every single evening for nearly a week," Jacob said, stepping into the center of the clearing to address the group. "We know how everyone moves and how to communicate without shouting or panic. We each understand our retreat signals and have also gained a measure of spatial awareness."
Bran rested his heavy steel mace against his shoulder. He grinned widely. "Are you saying what I think you're saying, Jacob?"
Jacob met Oren's gaze. The swordsman gave a firm, single nod of tactical agreement. Jacob then looked at Mira, Sera, and finally Thomas.
Every single member of the party stared back with a focused anticipation. The chaotic, mismatched group of teenagers had successfully forged itself into a functional unit.
"The inspection begins tomorrow," Jacob stated clearly, his voice steady with a newfound confidence. "The village guards and the elders will be completely occupied with the baron's men. Nobody will be watching the dirt path leading towards the mountain. Our formations are solid, and our gear is well enchanted."
Jacob took a deep breath, feeling the cool evening air fill his lungs.
"Tomorrow morning," Jacob declared, "we stop hunting starved stragglers in the dirt. Tomorrow, we challenge the F-rank gate together as a party."
The rich, savory aroma of roasted venison and thick root vegetable stew greeted the party the moment Jacob pushed open the farmhouse door.
Inside the warm kitchen, May was already operating like a veteran guild quartermaster instead of just a worried mother. A massive iron pot bubbled over the wood-fired oven.
She directed the teenagers to the large oak table with a firm point of her wooden spoon. The group filed in, shedding their dusty training gear and settling into the wooden chairs. Even Mira took a seat near the edge of the light, her usual defensive posture softening slightly in the face of a hot meal.
"Eat everything in your bowls," May ordered, setting down a large platter of sliced, crusty bread. "You need to store up your energy for tomorrow. The miasma drains your core heat first, forcing you to spend the precious energy only food can provide."
Well, I think mana can also provide the necessary caloric sustenance, Jacob thought as he remembered the times he used restorative magic to completely fix wounds without needing any additional energy input, but I think I'll keep that to myself for now. She seems really serious, but I can tell she's doing it out of care.
Thomas didn't need to be told twice. The brawler eagerly picked up a chunk of bread, dipping it deep into the dark gravy. Bran sat next to him, loudly praising the seasoning utilized for the meal while adjusting the heavy iron toolbelt he refused to take off.
While the party devoured the hearty meal, May wiped her hands on her apron and began a ruthless inspection of their prepared gear. She walked behind their chairs, popping open their leather rucksacks and sifting through the contents with a knowing efficiency.
"Oren," May said sharply, pulling a tangled bundle of rope from his pack. "Your coil is a mess. If someone falls down a slick incline, you'll lose five seconds untying this knot. Five seconds is fatal. You need to fix it, or you'll end up being a liability in the dungeon."
Oren nodded respectfully, setting his spoon down. He immediately took the rope and began re-coiling it with meticulous care. He knew Jacob could simply fly around and pick people up with his spell, but he wasn't going to argue with May.
May moved on to Bran. She hefted his heavy leather pack and let out a long sigh. "Tinkerer, you're carrying too much dead weight. You have three different iron wrenches in here. You only need one for emergency repairs on any of the enhanced armor in the group. Leave the extra tinkering tools on your workbench. You need that pack space for dungeon loot and monster cores."
Bran grumbled quietly but nodded, reaching into the bag to remove the heavy iron tools so he could put them back in the barn after dinner.
May finally stopped behind Sera. She checked the healer's small, lightweight satchel. Her strict expression softened into a warm, approving smile. "Perfectly packed, Sera. The bitterroot is easily accessible in the side pocket for nausea, the clean bandages are wrapped in dry oilcloth near the clover, and the marking chalk is right at the top."
"Jacob made sure we memorized your list, Mrs. Hemlock," Sera replied with a polite, gentle smile.
"Good," May declared, stepping back to survey the entire table. "You have your formations and your enchanted gear. It looks like your supplies are also in order. Are you all sure you're ready for this? There is no shame in delaying the first delve to make sure."
Jacob looked around the table. Oren tested the tension on his recoiled rope. Thomas flexed his bruised hands inside his newly hardened leather gauntlets.
Mira sharpened a throwing knife against a small whetstone. Bran checked the grip on his heavy mace. Sera securely fastened her supply satchel.
"We're ready," Jacob confirmed with the group nodding around him.
"Then finish your stew and get to sleep," May instructed. "You need a full night's rest. The nervous energy will try to keep you awake, but don't let it."
After dinner and before bed, Jacob stopped Sera before she could go to the girls' bedroom with Mira and Lila.
"Hey, Sera, could you help me in my room before we call it a night?"
Sera just looked at Jacob with a raised eyebrow, but he gestured into his room, where Oren was already making himself comfortable on his bed, with Thomas making a mat on the floor.
"Sure," she replied before walking into the center of the room.
"Thanks," Jacob said as he walked in.
"I'm going to try something with my core," he continued as he addressed everyone in the room. "It might get ugly, since the pain and demand are much worse than reaching tier 1, but I need to know where I stand with tier 2."
Sera nodded as Oren stood up straight and Thomas rolled over onto his side to get a look at what the crazy young mage was attempting.
"Just make sure I don't hit my head too hard if I pass out, and hit me with some regenerative healing if I can't ask for it."
Sera and Oren both nodded, with Oren positioning himself near Jacob.
Jacob then reached within himself to attempt the turning process. He pulled the turning core to create a second loop in the spin, so it would loop around itself instead of just in a singular direction.
The spinning core resisted him greatly, but he was eventually able to manipulate the direction it was turning. Once it began to spin back on itself, he could feel an influx of the surrounding energy from the world flood his body to press down on the mana in his core.
It started to shred his muscles and tendons as his blood vessels burst one after the other. He started coughing up blood but forced his core to continue to turn.
He had faced worse in the grove.
Sucking in a sharp, deep breath, he forced his lungs to expand as he increased his internal pressure to fight back against the building pressure put on him by the world energy.
This caused his left eye to bloom with burst blood vessels as his eyes and nose began to leak blood. Feeling himself near his one limit, he was about to give up when Sera began to sing a calming melody that had an undercurrent of focus.
With the noise of panic and his own heartbeat in his own ears relaxing, he realized that he could push a bit further before quitting this attempt. So, he pressed on and urged his core to continue to spin back on itself in a loop, increasing the speed of the attempted turn.
He felt something pop within his head, which caused his equilibrium to spin out of control as blood shot out of his ears and bloody tears started to stream down his face.
He was forced to relax his core, which returned to its normal spin as a tier 1 core, focusing on just staying conscious. He noticed that Seras' melody changed, and he could feel warmth blooming within his chest, causing his equilibrium to return while the pain from the rest of his body started to reduce in intensity.
He realized at that point that he was sitting on the floor with Oren holding him up in a seated position. He managed to stand on his own with Oren standing by in case he fell back down, but then he cast his own regenerative spell to help his body to marginally adapt to the stress he just put it under.
Once his injuries were healed, he used a wave of magic to manipulate the water in his surroundings to wash the blood off of his face and clothes.
"That was crazy," Sera said as she touched Jacob's shoulder in concern. "We haven't had such a bad injury in the group even while hunting goblins in the forest, and you inflicted that on yourself."
Standing up straight to look Sera in the eye, Jacob was about to respond until he heard the familiar chime from the system.
System Alert: Endurance 8 --> 9
Jacob just smiled at his companions as he turned to his bed and fell on it in exhaustion.
"Well," Oren said as he turned from Jacob to Sera, "I would say that's our cue to get some sleep."
Sera looked at Jacob with a bit of confusion but nodded to Oren and headed to her room to get some sleep.
The world was still painted in the beautiful predawn orange and pink as the sun began to crest the tops of the trees surrounding the farm when Jacob stepped out onto the front porch.
A thin layer of white frost coated the tall grass, with the cold air biting at his exposed cheeks. It wasn't quite the first freeze, but he knew he would soon need to turn in the amulet he still wore around his neck.
He tightened the leather straps of his pack and adjusted the water pouches, which were pulling at his waist.
The rest of the party was already waiting in the yard. Their breath plumed in the freezing morning air.
Nobody spoke.
The nervous anticipation of the actual delve had settled over all of them, generating a solemn atmosphere.
They turned and marched down the dirt driveway, leaving the Hemlock farm behind.
As they walked toward the main road, the true scale of the baronial inspection was revealed to them. The village of Ruvka felt like it had become a ghost town. Every farmer, guard, business owner, and local official was wholly focused on the central square, preparing ledgers and grain counts for the count's approaching men.
There was a chance their farms and businesses would be spared a direct inspection as long as their ledgers added up to their previously reported values.
Most of them kept an accurate account, according to the law, and wouldn't be forced to demonstrate the allocation of their funds.
Others, however, well, they're the reason the inspections cause such a nervous atmosphere when they randomly come around.
Even the adventurers found themselves busy in the fields or forests fighting goblins, as was their assigned duty. It was unlikely that they would be reprimanded, much less charged with some sort of crime, for being in the town during an inspection.
But, they all silently agreed that they would be busy either delving and preventing the dungeon from breaking out or cleaning up the goblins from the unknown gate in the caves.
Thus, there were no early morning carts on the dirt paths or gossiping neighbors peeking through their shutters. Everyone was busy enough looking after themselves.
The roads leading out of the valley were completely deserted. Just as the gang had wanted, if only to prevent the gossip that would break out in the village before they could firmly establish themselves as an adventurer party.
Oren took the lead, his hand resting comfortably on the pommel of his sword. They bypassed the main village entirely, taking the winding, overgrown logging path through the forests near the farms that led around the base of the Arbalax Mountain on the Ruvkan side.
The hike was winding and physically demanding, serving as a good warm-up for their muscles.
Thick pine trees slowly gave way to jagged, grey stone as they approached the clearing in an area closer to the mountain. The air grew noticeably thinner and much colder. But a quiet hum seemed to suffuse the air as they approached the gate.
After about an hour of hiking, the tree line broke completely, leaving only sparse trees on the rocky terrain.
The gate lay between the stones, leaning against each other unnaturally, as if someone had propped them up like that, strange system runes marking them as portal stones. Dark, purple-hued miasma drifted lazily out of the cave mouth, clinging to the surrounding rocks like a sickly fog, signaling the beginnings of a dungeon break.
The F-rank gate stood directly before them.
"Looks like our kills will actually matter today," Oren stated plainly, "my master's mentioned that any kills when the dungeon starts a break reduces the likelihood that it will actually happen."
"While I agree that this'll help," Thomas spoke up after Oren, "I think we should warn someone back in town about the state of the gate. It could be a new development that the people inside are unaware of."
"We'll delve first," Jacob spoke up, asserting himself as the leader, "If the miasma hasn't cleared up by then, we'll take the safe path back to town before heading to the farm instead of the direct route."
That seemed to be agreeable for everyone as he received nods of affirmation from the group. Jacob pointed his hand towards the gate, gesturing for the team to enter.
Thomas rolled his broad shoulders, stepping naturally into the vanguard position alongside Oren. Bran raised his heavy steel mace, falling in right behind Sera to protect her flank. Mira melted seamlessly into the shadowy rocks near the entrance, her daggers already drawn.
Jacob stepped past the runic portal stones. The transition was jarring, just as it had been the last time. It caused him to feel a bit of vertigo as he was able to sense his movement through a dimensional boundary as space bent around him.
Before he could get a good feel of the forces at play, though, it was over, and he was firmly within the dungeon.
The biting frost of the mountain air vanished instantly, replaced by a warm, rolling breeze that smelled faintly of dry earth and wild beast.
The first floor of the Ruvka Gate opened into a wide stretch of grassland beneath a bright, false dungeon sky, though rather convincing with how realistic it looked, with the false sun even giving off heat as its rays touched his skin.
Tall blades of tawny grass rolled in the wind, thick enough to hide the movement of anything crawling low through the field. At first glance, it looked almost peaceful, like a vast summer savanna. But every ripple in the grass carried the threat of a monster ambush that could destroy their formation if they were careless.
It was the kindest floor the gate had to offer, which only meant it gave new adventurers a chance to learn before it killed them.
"Chew the bitterroot," Jacob commanded quietly. He reached into his pouch and placed a small, fibrous root between his teeth.
The dungeon miasma here was mild compared to deeper floors, but it still carried a faint, unnatural pressure.
He hadn't noticed it the first time he had delved, but it seemed like something that was brought about with a mature dungeon, or perhaps a dungeon at the beginning stages of a delve.
"Get in formation," Oren whispered. The swordsman drew his blade. "Keep your eyes on the surroundings. The vegetation is thick enough to hide an entire pack."
Thomas nodded, stepping into the vanguard and raising his enchanted leather gauntlets. Bran moved up behind Sera, his heavy steel mace resting casually on his shoulder. The tinkerer scanned the open plains with a tinkerer's critical eye, likely analyzing the strangely flat terrain.
Mira didn't say a word. She just stepped sideways into a thick patch of yellowed grass and vanished from sight.
They advanced slowly, taking their time to ensure they didn't fall into a trap before Mira could identify it for them or run headfirst into an ambush. The crunch of their boots against the dry earth and straw was the only sound for several tense minutes.
Suddenly, Jacob noticed a disturbance. The grass ten yards to their left parted unnaturally, the movement cutting through the field like sharks through water.
System Notice: Encounter Initiated.
Jacob noted that it was nice of the system to give them a warning before their first confrontation. It must be a safety feature in a low-ranking dungeon, he thought to himself.
Four massive, tawny beasts leaped from the vegetation. They were oversized jackals, pack-oriented predators adapted to using the plains as cover. Their shoulders reached Jacob's chest, and their jaws snapped with an obvious bone-crushing force that caused Sera to visibly shudder.
"Vanguard, hold!" Oren shouted.
The lead jackal lunged directly at Thomas. The brawler didn't even flinch. He was used to fighting these guys by himself and decided to hold them rather than decimate them so the rest of the crew could get the experience they needed on their first delve.
He planted his boots in the dirt and brought his arms up in a tight, defensive cross. The massive beast slammed into him.
The enchanted leather gauntlets absorbed the kinetic force with a dull thud, thanks to the force-dampening effect Jacob included in the inscription, and redistributed it through his leather-scaled armor and leather trousers, which had been linked to the gauntlets to produce the force distribution effect.
Once he had a good grasp of the power he could block with his newly enchanted gear, Thomas simply pivoted his hips, opening a clear lane for attack.
Oren stepped directly and swiftly into that newly created space. The swordsman's blade flashed in the false sunlight, delivering a single, lethal thrust that dropped the creature immediately without letting it retaliate.
On the right flank, the second jackal attempted to bypass the frontline entirely. It used the tall grass to obscure its movement, trying to circle toward Sera as the fourth beast tried a similar approach from the other side.
Bran was there to face the second jackal head-on, steel mace at the ready. That's when Sera's song hit him, enhancing his strength and reflexes.
With the stat boost given by their healer, Bran was able to easily sidestep the jackal's bite and smash the mace into its skull with a fluid movement. The blunt weapon collided with the jackal's skull with a sickening crack.
The beast crumpled immediately into the dirt.
The fourth jackal that was mirroring the second in a flank was met with Jacob's sword, as he easily dispatched it with a swift strike after holding it in place with his gentle hand spell.
He realized quickly that the spell and sword combo really would require greater mastery with the sword, as Oren had mentioned, as he nearly tripped over his feet trying it for the first time.
The third jackal had stood frozen.
Its crude monster instincts finally recognized the danger it was in. It bared its teeth, turned, and prepared to flee back into the dense brush. That's when a shadowy figure launched itself out of the brush and sliced its throat before it could gain any traction.
Mira followed through the kill, avoiding the spray of blood that coated the dry grass around them.
"Good job, Mira," Jacob complimented the silent girl as she returned to the brush, where she disappeared once more. She waved behind herself towards Jacob in acknowledgement of his compliment before the party lost track of her once again.
Sera hummed a relaxing melody, helping the team recover their stamina. She stood perfectly safe in the center of the formation, completely untouched.
Jacob then checked his system message after hearing a familiar chime.
System Notice: Monsters Slain.
Gained 12 XP (shared).
I guess the dungeon isn't as stingy with dishing out experience points, Jacob thought as he read the message.
Oren knelt beside one of the fallen beasts. He quickly extracted the cloudy monster core with his hunting knife and tossed it into his bag, wiping his hands on his trousers. They had agreed to put the drops together and split them after the dungeon.
Standing up, Oren then casually flicked the blood from his blade, staying attentive as Thomas and Bran looted the rest of the corpses. He looked around the rolling plains, his breathing unstrained.
"Not too bad," Oren stated, a confident smirk touching his lips. "My master warned me about the first floor, but honestly? These normal floors feel more like a basic hunting trip than a real dungeon dive. The real threat is the gatekeeper, if it spawns, that is."
"Don't get complacent," Jacob warned, recalling his mother's advice. "My mother said overconfidence kills new parties. We still have boar-lizards to worry about. They're thicker and tougher than these jackals, and they'll use this vegetation to circle behind us. We should keep our spacing tight."
"Jacob's right," Thomas agreed, "while this floor is quite simple, especially with a good group, it's easy to get overconfident. I've had to jump in with more experienced groups before that had let their previous successes get to their heads."
"Thanks, Thomas. Let's keep moving," Jacob said, taking a steadying breath of the alien air. "We need to clear the perimeter and test the respawn rates. Stay alert."
The party reformed its diamond structure. They pushed deeper into the sea of tawny grass, ready to systematically conquer the first floor of the F-rank gate.